This invention relates to tray-handling equipment for removing full or partially full trays from a mail sorter and replenishing the mail sorter with empty trays. The invention is particularly useful with flat mail sorters.
A flat mail sorter of the type marketed by Mannesmann Dematic Rapistan Corp. under Model No. FSM-100 is commercially available. Such flat sorter sorts flat mail, such as magazines, large envelopes, and the like to trays, typically plastic trays, each one devoted to a particular zip code. There is a requirement that full trays be removed from their respective support shelf and replaced with an empty tray. There is also a requirement that an occasional sweep operation be accommodated. A sweep operation is one in which all of the trays are removed from their respective shelves, even if only partially full. The empty shelves are then stocked with empty trays.
This tray-handling function is traditionally performed manually. It is desirable to automate this manual function. In addition to performing the functions carried out manually, it is desirable that an automatic tray-handling system allow manual tray replacement should the automatic tray-handling system be unusable for whatever reason.